Product Details
C. LANCASTER, LONDON
A .476 FOUR-BARRELLED HOWDAH-PISTOL, MODEL 'LANCASTER'S PATENT', serial no. 8343,
for 1891, with oval-bored drop-down 6in. barrel group (pitted), deeply carved imitation side-ribs, the top signed 'CHARLES LANCASTER PATENT 151 NEW BOND ST, LONDON', the left side marked with the calibre, applied crescent fore-sight, lever operated sprung barrel-catch, full frame with semi saw-handled birdshead grip, the top of the receiver engraved with the crown of a Marquis over a stylised letter 'D', trigger operating on double action only with folding assist, coin-edged backstrap, lanyard ring at heel and chequered walnut side-panels, worn externally
Provenance: The makers have kindly confirmed that this pistol was supplied in 1891 to Sir Robert Gresley.
The Baronetcy of Gresley of Drakelow was created in the Baronetage of England on 29 June 1611 for George Gresley of Drakelow Hall, Derbyshire who was later High Sheriff of Derbyshire and Member of Parliament for Newcastle-under-Lyme. The Gresley Baronetcy was the sixth oldest baronetcy in Britain until it became extinct on the death of the 13th and last Baronet in 1976. The Gresleys were an ancient Norman family, descended from Nigel de Stafford, the son of Robert de Stafford, scion of one of the most powerful families in England. Nigel's son, also named Nigel, took the name Gresley after he acquired Castle Gresley in Derbyshire. The Domesday Book recorded Nigel de Stafford holding the Manor of Drakelowe near the conclusion of the 11th century, and his descendants, the Gresleys, continued to hold it for nine hundred years – as long as any family in England is said to have owned the same manor. The family established the Priory of Gresley near their castle in Gresley before the year 1200. Drakelowe Hall, latterly the family seat, was a large Elizabethan mansion. A subsidiary branch of the family had a seat at Netherseal Hall, Netherseal. The two branches of the family were reunited by the marriage of the sister of the 8th Baronet to Rev. William Gresley, Rector of Netherseal, and the succession of their son William Nigel Gresley as 9th Baronet. The last of the Gresley family, Robert Gresley (1866-1936), vacated Drakelowe Hall in 1931 after 28 generations had lived there. The Hall was demolished three years later, in 1934, when the site was redeveloped as Drakelow Power Station, which itself was later demolished. Netherseal Hall was demolished in 1933.
Sir Robert married the Duke of Malborough's daughter, Lady Frances Spencer Churchill and being an avid shooter and sportsman became a regular at the Blenheim Palace shoots. According to the book 'Record Bags & Shooting Records' by Hugh S. Gladstone, one shooting party comprising of Sir Robert, The Duke of Marlborough, the two Duleep Singh Princes and Mr Stephen Wombwell shot 6943 rabbits, 26 hares and 13 partridges between the five of them in one day with Sir Robert himself accounting for 1430 head for 1700 cartridges fired.
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Estimate £500-800
S5 - Sold as a Section 5 Firearm under the 1968 Firearms Act, Sections 7.3 and 7.1 Eligible.
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